BOSTON — Rookie Tuukka Rask has led the Boston Bruins out onto the ice for today’s matinee with the New York Rangers, so he will make the start — his first of the 2008-09 regular season.

Rask played in four games, three as the starter, with Boston last season. Henrik Lundqvist will get the start for the Rangers in net.

As expected, forward Petteri Nokelainen took the ice. But he did not skate during drills. The Bruins, instead, skated the same four lines from Thursday night’s loss.

On the back end, Shane Hnidy skated coupled with Mark Stuart and rookie Matt Hunwick was not on the ice. UPDATE:Bruins PR confirms Hunwick is injured, was ill with flu-like symptoms, according to head coach Claude Julien.

I’ll have more after the game. And you can check out my live blog at NESN.com.

BOSTON — Ailing Boston Bruins goaltender Manny Fernandez went through with his plan today, according to head coach Claude Julien in his pregame briefing at TD Banknorth Garden.

“He skated this morning,” said Julien, who confirmed Fernandez would not go on the Bruins’ trip up to Montreal for Sunday’s game. “We started out slowly with him and everything went well.”

As for the rest of the line-up, Julien would rather we be surprised and said we’d find out who’s starting in net and who might be among the 18 skaters once warm-ups start. He confirmed, however, that forward Petteri Nokelainen will give it a go in warm-ups.

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins’ last four games have all needed extra time to determine a winner.

The Bruins have split their two games decided in the five-minute overtime and split their two shootouts over that span. But on the season their shootout record is just 3-5. That’s why they’d be wise today against the New York Rangers at TD Banknorth Garden to avoid the post-overtime spectacle. The Rangers lead the league with eight shootout victories this season (against just two losses).

Boston found out the hard way how tough the Rangers are in a shootout the first time these two teams met, as the Rangers won the shootout, 1-0, on a goal by Chris Drury. (more…)

When Carey Price first went out with an ankle injury a few weeks ago, the Montreal Canadiens went through some tough times while Jaroslav Halak was getting settled in as the temporary No. 1.

Now Price is back, but he’s not playing up to his All-Star form. In three games — all losses — since his return, Price has allowed 15 goals. The last two games were back-to-back road losses against the Florida-based teams, which aren’t usually up to the task of taking down the mighty Habs.

After losing to the Panthers last night, Price was hard on himself, and head coach Guy Carbonneau didn’t pull any punches either, as Pat Hickey reports in The Gazette.

MK: Again, you can’t emphasize enough how important it has been for the Boston Bruins to have two goaltenders to complement each other and make sure there’s no drop-off in the play between the pipes. While that might be tested while Manny Fernandez is out, the inconsistency the Habs have had to deal with is just maddening and the type of problem that can drag a team down.

Could it be that the most overlooked goaltender in the NHL has made his critics and doubters turn a complete 180 degrees and they’re now overrating him?

Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas, who’s tops in the NHL in save percentage (.932) and fourth in goals-against average (2.15), has obviously won a whole new bandwagon of fans with his stellar performances in the first half of the season, the All-Star Game and Tuesday night’s overtime win over Washington.

MK: First off, let’s hold off on handing out year-end awards in January. Steve Mason, Evgeni Nabokov and others will have their say as the season goes on. And we have to see how Thomas handles this current stretch of games without Manny Fernandez healthy enough to spell him.

As for this offseason, it’s my educated guess that the Bruins will sign Thomas before he tests the free-agent waters, and that Thomas will be more than amenable to staying at a reasonable rate. Thomas has been embraced by the city of Boston and not only is he raising his family here, but his parents moved here as well. At 34 (35 in April), I can’t believe Thomas would want to go anywhere, nor would he want to demand a contract that would handcuff the Bruins cap-wise. How about a two- or three-year deal worth around $3 mill per? Come on, get it done.

WILMINGTON, Mass. — Life as a fourth-line forward can be frustrating enough with the limited ice time a player receives and the chance that another player could come along and take your job any time.

It’s even more difficult to deal with that role when injuries keeping creeping up. No one knows the feelings that come with that situation more than Boston Bruins forward Petteri Nokelainen, who’s been skating in practices but not playing in games due to an undisclosed injury he suffered against Washington Jan. 27.

“Definitely (it’s frustrating). And what can you really do? It’s so frustrating, it’s kind of hard to find the words for that,” he said after the Bruins practiced today at Ristuccia Arena. “But I guess that’s a part of the thing and you have to live with those.”

Nokelainen, who has posted one assist in 30 games and averaged just 9:55 of ice time, skated practice at center between wingers Blake Wheeler and Michael Ryder, while that line’s usual center David Krejci took the day off for maintenance. This is Nokelainen’s second absence-causing injury of the season following the upper-body ailment that knocked him out of the line-up for 10 games from mid-December to early January.

He assured everyone within earshot that he’s improving and is ready to play as soon as the coaching staff gives him the nod.

WILMINGTON, Mass. — Earlier this week, Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien said that he thought goaltender Manny Fernandez would be ready to return to the ice again by the weekend.

Well, technically he still has one more day before the weekend. So assuming Fernandez sticks to the current plan, as explained today by Julien, and skates before the Bruins host the New York Rangers at TD Banknorth Garden, he’ll be right on track.

“I think the plan is for him probably to go out on the ice tomorrow and slowly work his way back,” Julien said today after his team practiced at Ristuccia Arena. “He’s feeling, obviously, much better. And that’s part of the plan.”

Fernandez spoke in the locker room after practice but he was tight-lipped with any details on his situation.

“They haven’t told me, so I don’t have any information. Those guys (the coaches) are probably your best bet. I don’t know. Every day I walk in and it’s a new thing. I have no idea,” said Fernandez, who hasn’t played since Jan. 8 and only dressed as the back-up three times over that span. (more…)

WILMINGTON, Mass. — No, the Boston Bruins are not in the Hudson River. They’re just at Ristuccia Arena this morning for a practice one day after falling in overtime to New Jersey and one day before hosting the New York Rangers at TD Banknorth Garden.

All are present and accounted for except center David Krejci. Injured forward Petteri Nokelainen is wearing the gray jersey today in order to center the line flanked by Blake Wheeler and Michael Ryder. There’s still no sign of Manny Fernandez, so Tuukka Rask is out there with Tim Thomas.

With his team having suffered defeat just 14 times this season (eight in regulation), Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien was asked after last night’s 4-3 loss to New Jersey at TD Banknorth Garden how his team handles coming up on the short end on the rare occassions it does.

“Hopefully bad enough that we bounce back with a good effort next game and come up with a win,” he responded. “I think this was a good test for us. We played a team tonight, when you look at their roster just up front, I think (David) Clarkson is the youngest guy with two years in the league, and the rest are all veteran players. You look at (Milan) Lucic, you look at (Phil) Kessel, (Blake) Wheeler, to name a few, (David) Krejci, they’re (guys with two years or less) — those are guys that are playing on our top lines.

“You know it was good for our team to battle against that, and I thought for the most part we handled it pretty well. Hopefully we can grow and get better from this experience.”

BOSTON — The New Jersey Devils really know how to ruin a homecoming party.

With some hard work, determination and puck luck, the Devils left TD Banknorth Garden with a 4-3 overtime win tonight. But winger Phil Kessel, in his return after a six-game absence with mononucleosis, had nothing to hang his head about.

Kessel, the Bruins’ leading goal-scorer, played the role of distributor in his first game back — tallying two assists and firing two shots on net in 19:16 of ice time. He even threw a hit, his third of the season.

“I was actually a little tired at some points,” Kessel said after Jamie Langenbrunner’s extra-session goal ended the night on a sour note for Boston. “But I felt pretty good for getting back for the first game.” (more…)

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins have just completed warm-ups with a game against New Jersey just about 15 minutes away here at TD Banknorth Garden. With Phil Kessel and Michael Ryder back in and Petteri Nokelainen now out, here are the lines the Bruins skated:

BOSTON — Winger Jay Pandolfo, a former four-year superstar at Boston University, has paid his dues with the New Jersey Devils.

He’s won a couple Stanley Cups, been a defensive stalwart and even added some offense when necessary. Typically, a road date with the Boston Bruins means a homecoming and a chance to skate against the favorite team of his childhood in front of friends and family from his hometown of Burlington, Mass., and the rest of that suburban area.

But barring any last-minute change, Pandolfo will be a healthy scratch for the fourth straight game (all since Brendan Shanahan joined the club) tonight at TD Banknorth Garden.

“You can’t get caught up in where you’re playing and who’s from where,” Devils head coach Brent Sutter said this morning. “The focus is on your hockey team. And as a coach, you put the line-up that you see fit on the ice for that night. And there’s no reason to change our line-up. … I know there’s a sentimental thing involved here, but I … I respect it and I understand it, but I can’t dwell on it.” (more…)

BOSTON — It’s widely accepted that when Brendan Shanahan was a free agent waiting for a call, the Boston Bruins kicked the tires on possibly adding the future Hall of Famer.

With Marco Sturm missing, Shanahan would’ve fit in nicely on the wing among the Bruins’ top nine. But Jan. 14 Shanahan signed with the New Jersey Devils — the team he began his NHL career with more than two decades ago.

So how close was Boston, his offseason, part-time home, to nabbing his services? Shanahan’s not saying.

“There were a lot of teams in the mix,” Shanahan said today after his team’s optional morning skate in preparation for their game with the Bruins at TD Banknorth Garden. “I don’t think it’s really appropriate to talk about other teams now. But I’d be lying to say there weren’t several other teams that were in the mix that I was obviously interested in and curious about.”

Shanahan didn’t take long to round into form with his new/old team. In three games, he’s already popped in two goals.